I know the kids, what they took, and what they got in those classes. My kid and all his friends share info, they basically all know eachother's business.

How do you know this?

Have you seen their transcripts? I think the T20 admissions staff might have a better read on this than you.

It depends on. If you apply for CS in MIT or CMU, yes, absolutely. If you apply for Gender Studies in Cornell, no.

Anonymous wrote:top rigor not required from our private. kids with better grades and non top rigor did better in college admissions than kids with slightly lower grades in all top rigor classes.

Same here. Rigor is not the most important thing from our private. GPA is king.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC was not top rigor across all 5 subjects. In early to HYPS. Had the grades and test scores, but less than 10 APs. Public school.

This is what our college counselor said. Top rigor if you can get Bs, otherwise not worth it. APs in key topics, not everything offered.

Do you mean top rigor if you can get all As, otherwise not worth it?

top rigor not required from our private. kids with better grades and non top rigor did better in college admissions than kids with slightly lower grades in all top rigor classes.

Anonymous wrote:Despite what you always hear, I know several non-hooked kids that have gotten into top 20 without top rigor across the board. They all had good GPAs but not top rigor in 100% of their classes.

What is your experience?

GPA is the most important. Rigor can be very subjective. This is from a senior parent who got deferred from Brown ED, UVA, UMich EA. You cannot get into UVA without a min 4.4 so rigor is secondary

Anonymous wrote:DC was not top rigor across all 5 subjects. In early to HYPS. Had the grades and test scores, but less than 10 APs. Public school.

This is what our college counselor said. Top rigor if you can get Bs, otherwise not worth it. APs in key topics, not everything offered.

DC was not top rigor across all 5 subjects. In early to HYPS. Had the grades and test scores, but less than 10 APs. Public school.

Taking the AP exam and getting 5s are as important. Maybe take 10+ APs and all 5s is pretty impressive

Top rigor in major /adjacent…at private !!

"Top rigor" doesn't mean the hardest class every single time you have a choice. It just means above a certain threshold.

Rigor is very important but I don’t colleges are too impressed by overloading on APs. 18 isn’t better than 10-12 major ones. I think they want to see the key APs like APUSh, Lang, and Calc (preferably BC for at least stem, Econ and business applicants at top schools).

Despite what you always hear, I know several non-hooked kids that have gotten into top 20 without top rigor across the board. They all had good GPAs but not top rigor in 100% of their classes.

What is your experience?